Gákti ja goahti. Heritage work and identity at Várdobáiki Museum

Abstract

The legacy of the harsh assimilation policy in Norway – fornorskingen – has resulted in a loss of language, cultural heritage and corresponding identities for many within the Sámi population. Helped along in particular by the practice of late nineteenth and twentieth-century ethnographic and cultural-history museums, the culture of Norway has often been presented as a singular culture with few, if any, references to the Sámi. Only in the last few decades have any attempts been made to rectify this image. In this article, I show how the Sámi communities have appropriated the tools of assimilation – i.e. museums – and used them to counteract its effects. I focus on the work of indigenous museums in one geographical area – the counties of Nordland and Troms – and the Marke- Sámi population and culture within this area. Using the Marke-Sámi community as my starting point I show how the use of local and traditional knowledge alongside heritage work in museums helps form a sense of local ownership of the Marke-Sámi culture and an entitlement to participate in the creation of modern Marke-Sámi identities amongst the local Marke-Sámi population.